One major recommendation that could change the current state of the healthcare workforce is to strengthen the current state of healthcare education and make furthering your education more affordable for nurses. Currently, funding education continues to be a major roadblock preventing nurses from furthering their degrees. The current state of healthcare is becoming more complex, so we need more advanced degree nurses to strengthen the care provided. Care within the hospital setting continues to grow more complex, and nurses must make critical decisions associated with care for sicker, frailer patients, and nurses are being called upon to coordinate care among a variety of clinicians and community agencies; to help patients manage chronic illnesses, thereby preventing acute care episodes and disease progression; and to use a variety of technological tools to improve the quality and effectiveness of care (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021). By creating more affordable access to degree advancement, there will be more nurses who are further educated to meet the complex needs of the current healthcare system. Nursing education programs, including continuing education, accreditors, and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing should ensure that nurses are prepared to address social determinants of health and achieve health equity (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021). Every patient you care for has a social determinant of health in some way, whether it is a lack of insurance to cover medical services, or a lack of transportation to get to and from appointments. Social determinants of health are everywhere in the current healthcare system so it’s important for advanced nurses to be aware of these, and to know how we can properly treat these types of patients. Throughout his practice, this author has cared for many patients who are homeless or have state-funded insurance to cover the cost of their medical needs. Each one of these patients needs to be cared for with the utmost respect and without prejudice. Many times, medications are too expensive for the patient, so they elect to not go and get them because they are unable to afford them. Cards such as GoodRX are often given to help reduce the cost of important medications such as antibiotics and steroids for their chronic conditions.
I would agree with the report regarding the evolution of the APRN Role. The current healthcare demand is going to continue to grow as more nurses and physicians are deciding to leave the healthcare system altogether, so there will be an increased need for more APRNs to fill the primary care gap. Healthcare will continue to get more complex as new technologies are being discovered daily making an impact on the care of chronic disease management, so the addition of more advanced degree nurses will be beneficial to educate patients on their further disease management at home which will continue to reduce readmission rates. By giving the APRN role autonomy within their practice this will allow the nurse to work to the full extent of their education and training to increase patient satisfaction scores and to help bridge the gap in healthcare.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. https://nam.edu/publications/the-future-of-nursing-2020-2030/
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